Head of Secure Design

DWP Digital; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 83,000 - 102,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Pension contributions

Generous leave

Job summary

DWP Digital with Purpose is seeking a Head of Secure Design to lead cyber security, fraud risk and secure design across Working Age Services. You’ll enable risk-based decision making while ensuring services remain secure, resilient and trusted.

You’ll provide strategic oversight for experts across pen-testers, security architects, DevSecOps and compliance, guiding risk management across large-scale programs and complex digital estates in a hybrid, UK-wide environment.

Qualifications

• Experienced in providing strategic leadership in a complex cyber security environment.
• Expert knowledge of leading innovation in protective security and balancing security with service delivery.
• Expert in combining external threat information and threat models to provide holistic threat understanding.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight and leadership for security experts (pen-testers, Security Architects, Dev Sec Ops, compliance) in driving change.
• Lead risk management across full risk lifecycle with clear communication to enable informed decisions.
• Shape security standards and controls and strengthen response to emerging threats and fraud risks.
• Drive secure design practices across large, high-impact digital programmes.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Cyber security

Risk management

Threat modelling

Stakeholder communication

Security architectures

DevSecOps

Pen-test coordination

Tools

Threat modelling

Job description

Pay up to £92,522, plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, hybrid working, flexible hours, and great work life balance.

Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance.

DWP. Digital with Purpose.

DWP is the UK's largest government department. We help people into work and make payments worth over £195 billion each year, supporting millions of people across the UK.

Working Age Services delivers some of the nation's most critical public services, including Universal Credit. As Head of Secure Design, you’ll lead the security, fraud and risk strategy that protects these services, ensuring secure design principles are embedded across digital delivery.

Working across one of government's largest and most complex digital estates, you’ll shape security at scale, balancing the protection of essential citizen services with innovation, transformation and the delivery of trusted digital experiences.

What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?

• Experienced in providing strategic leadership in a complex cyber security environment, setting clear direction and leading specialist teams to deliver effective risk management outcomes, while communicating to multidisciplinary stakeholders and direct reports.
• Expert knowledge of leading innovation in protective security, taking into account the need to balance security requirements against service innovation.
• Expert in combining external threat information, organisational context and situational awareness to provide a holistic threat understanding capability, including the use of threat models and communicating to relevant stakeholders.
• Able to provide strategic oversight and leadership for specific experts (be they pen-testers, Security Architects, Dev Sec Ops, product or compliance assurance, for example) in the context of driving change and being confident to challenge.
• Proven experience in developing approaches to effectively manage risk through the full risk lifecycle. Evidence of communicating risk in clear terms to enable informed decision making and prioritisation.
• Proven record of working on a large high impact programme or enterprise scale operation.

You and your role

As Head of Secure Design, you’ll provide strategic leadership for cyber security, fraud risk and secure design across Working Age Services. You’ll enable informed, risk-based decision making while ensuring services remain secure, resilient and trusted.

Leading the Secure Design function, you’ll work with senior leaders, security specialists and multidisciplinary teams to embed security from the outset.

You’ll shape standards and controls, oversee risk and assurance activity, and strengthen the department's response to emerging threats, vulnerabilities and fraud risks.

You’ll play a central role in the digital transformation of services used by millions of people, modernising security approaches and enabling the safe delivery of services at scale.

This is a rare opportunity to influence the future security direction of one of government's most important digital portfolios, protecting public services, citizen data and taxpayer value.

Location:

You join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Birmingham, Leeds, London, Manchester or Newcastle Upon Tyne, whichever is most convenient for you.

Hybrid Working:

We work a hybrid model - you’ll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face to face in a hub.

Pay:

We offer competitive pay of up to £92,522.

Pension:

You’ll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97%.

Holidays:

A generous leave package starting at 26 days rising to 31 days over time.

You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi-time. You’ll also get all the usual public holidays.

We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies
• Time off volunteering and charitable giving
• Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'
• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
• Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference
• Sports and social activities
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.

And we have an award-winning environment and culture:

• DWP have been recognised as 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year at the Computing Women in Tech Excellence awards
• Diverse and Inclusive Leadership at Digital Leaders Awards 2024
• Commended as Best Place to Work in Digital category in the Computing Digital Technology Leaders awards 2025
• Recognised as one of the Best Public Sector Employers at 2025 Women In Tech Employer Awards

Process:

We know your time is valuable so our application and selection process is just two stages:

• Apply: complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There’ll be full instructions when you click through.
• Interview: a single stage interview online.